Aquacorde Town

Shauna waited patiently for the right time to ask. She had her Holocaster in her hand, ready to use it when the moment came. To her joy, it did quite soon.

Tierno had announced his and Trevor's leaving, and Shauna sprung up to intercept them.

"Before everyone goes," she declared, holding up her Holocaster for the group to see, "we should take a picture together."

"A picture? What would be the benefit of that?" Trevor asked, legitimately wondering.

Calem agreed with those sentiments, but he was annoyed instead of confused. "Wouldn't it be better to get our journeys started as soon as possible?"

None of those questions would get answered, though, as Tierno was already thrilled at the idea of a group photo.

"That's a great idea, Shaunee! It'll show how great friends we all are!"

"Exactly!" Shauna beamed back. "It'll help us remember our journey better if we take pictures, too." She turned from Tierno and towards the rest of the group. "What do you think, Serena?"

Serena wasn't paying attention to the rest of the group, and instead was focused on her Holocaster. She eventually looked up and replied with a question.

"This thing can take pictures?"

"Indeed it can!" Trevor was the one to respond, his eyes lighting up. "The Holocaster is quite an amazing device. While it's main function is to holographically present the user to the person they are calling to simulate face-to-face contact though they are at a long distance, it also has the ability to take pictures and record video. Or, in other words, it functions as both a communication and as a photo-capturing device."

Serena bobbed her head, only half-listening to Trevor's explanation. She then shrugged and stood up. "Might as well take a group picture then. No point in getting one of these and not using it to its full extent."

"Great!" Shauna pulled Serena towards herself and Tierno. "I'll be in the middle since I'm taking the picture."

Trevor, having convinced himself that a picture would be worth taking just to test the Holocaster, joined the trio but was not yet done questioning things.

"Shouldn't Tierno be taking the picture since he's the tallest? He'd be able to get a better angle that way."

"Yeah, I'll take it Shauna," Tierno agreed, pulling the Holocaster out of her hand and holding it up in the air. It was quickly evident that he did not actually know how to take pictures with it though, so Shauna grabbed his arm to take her Holocaster back from him.

"Just let me do it Tierno, I know what I'm doing."

"But then we won't have an angle!" Tierno argued back.

"Sure we will, you just gotta lift me up, Tierney." Shauna placed a foot on Tierno's thigh to position herself to be picked up, but it wasn't necessary.

Tierno easily scooped her up and balanced her on his left shoulder, his knees buckling only slightly.

"All right!" Shauna cheered, "Now we'll get an angle!"

Tierno offered out his right arm. "Trevs, do you or Lady S want to be lifted up?"

Trevor got flustered at the idea. "No!" He then promptly composed himself. "Ah, I mean, no thank you Tierno. After all, you are left-handed, so I don't know how safe it would be to lift someone up using your non-dominant arm."

Serena chuckled at both Tierno's offer and Trevor's response. "I think we're good buddy, maybe next time." She then moved herself next to Tierno, her face almost touching Shauna's legs. "Am I in the picture if I stand here?"

"Yeah," Shauna responded, already positioning the Holocaster the way she wanted it. "We need Trevor in the middle and Calem on Tierno's right side and we're good to go."

Trevor obliged the request and placed himself in the middle, trying to leave space on either side of him to avoid touching Serena and Calem.

Serena was already warming up to the idea of the group photo and decided to corral Calem herself. "Come on, Calem, this picture won't take itself!"

Calem, who was still stubbornly sitting in his seat, sighed. "You really think that this photo is necessary to start our journeys?"

"Of course!" Serena replied, though she truthfully did not expect it to create the same emotional impact that Shauna and Tierno did. "Now get over here before Tierno drops Shauna! Times a-wastin'!"

Tierno gasped. "I won't drop Shauna!" He still used his free arm to hold onto her legs, however.

"I know you won't drop me." Shauna comforted, ruffling Tierno's hair slightly. "Serena's just saying that to get Calem to hurry up."

It evidently worked, as Calem irritably got up and trudged over to the group. He leaned up against Tierno's free side, purposefully deciding not to smile.

Shauna didn't notice and started the photo timer on the her Holocaster. "Everyone say Kalos!"

Only Tierno joined Shauna in saying it.

Once the picture was taken, Calem, Trevor, and Serena dispersed to give Tierno room to set Shauna down.

Shauna gleefully stared at the picture. "This is amazing! We're already so close!"

Calem started to a make a comment about how physical closeness was not the same as emotional closeness, but Serena elbowed him in the chest before he could finish.

"I'll send it to everyone now. All of our numbers came preinstalled on our Holocasters since we're all on a journey together, so you should be getting them-" Shauna pushed a button on her Holocaster "-now!"

Everyone did indeed get them, with only Serena noting that it was odd the machines already knew everyone's number.

"The Holocaster is an amazing piece of technology," was Trevor's answer to Serena's concerns as he looked over the picture. He was clearly ready to leave, though, as he quickly saved the picture and began to walk away. "I hope you all will excuse us now, as Tierno and I must be getting on our way. After all, we need to let the professor know we have completed the task he assigned us."

"Oh, right!" Tierno easily caught up to Trevor. Then, turning back to the rest of the group he informed them that, "Trevs and I are going to Santalune Forest. You all should meet us there!"

"We will!" Shauna replied, waving them goodbye. "Friends stick together, after all." Shauna paused for a moment and then added, "And this won't be the last group picture, either, promise!"

Tierno gave a pleased thumbs-up and returned to following Trevor, who had sped up at the mention of more group interactions.

Calem seemed to echo Trevor's sentiment and gave a quiet sigh at Shauna's promise.

Serena, on the other hand, was of the opposing opinion and gave another chuckle at the antics of all her new friends.